Assembling elevator lift mechanism



1953 F. N. M CLINTOCK, JR 2,625,258

ASSEMBLING ELEVATOR LIFT MECHANISM Filed Dec. 30, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Frederick N. McG/infack, Jr.

EEE

Jan. 13, 1953 F. N. MCCLINTOCKJR 2,625,258

ASSEMBLING ELEVATOR LIFT MECHANISM Filed Dec. 50, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 rim-tart: mm: m I:

k '0 g? k v w x I w I l R L N i M g "a Freda/cl: N. McC/zntock Jr.

- INVENTORY 4 s 01L 1 BY I MMFM Jan. 13, 1953 F. N. MQCLINTOCK, JR 2,625,258

ASSEMBLING ELEVATOR LIFT MECHANISM Fil ed Dec 30, 1948 s Sheets-Sheet :5

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Frederic/r N. McC/in/oc/r, Jr.

INVENTOR.

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Patented Jan. 13, 1953 Assume-mo; EIJEV-ATQR' ME cHsNrsM EKGdQIiQlITN$..MQQliH1QCk, Jm-Havne (1e Grace; Md. Application December 30, I948, SeriatNo; eases comma-5 (Curses-31);

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My-inventlon'rela-testo improvements impower lift mechanism for the assembl-'mg elevators. of typographical machines such as the: Ei'not-ype I} and fntertype" machinesof commerce.

The primary object of myinvention-isv to providein such machines for lifting the assembling elevator bypower -under key control to-cbvi'ate operation of the usual manually operativeas sembl-ing elevator lifting means of these: machines and thereby save time andlabor; all means of easilvcontrolled mechanism of 'simpleform-' inexpensive construction adapted to; be readily attaehe ito such machines without I alteringthe basic structureofi'the-machines;

Another object is to provide a mechamsm 'oi? the character and for the purpose abova set forth which is powered-by a spring and cockedg for lifting; operation by retraction of' the-dine} (lo-- 1ivery-=l'everof such machines; whereby: a'morea simple and quickly actingpower li f-t mechanism. isprovided forliftingthe assembling elevator I than=has-heretoforebeen achieved.

Still" anothercbject is to provide inconjunca tion with the above" for: variably and: selective counterbalancing theassembling elevator accor ingjto the overall: weight ot'the same with difi e entnumbers of matrices-composing allinetthen' in; soastoreduce-theload: on the: poowere-lift mechanism to a minimum notwithstanding length of the linev or? matrices assembled in 5 assembling" elevator;

Still another obi'ectis to provide: a: power. mechanism" for such a-ssemblingrelevators which will: require: a: minimum of. servicing anci will not getout ofi orderunderprolongedlusea..

Other and subordinate objects withinithevpure view of'my invention, together with the; precise; nature of m-y'improvementsiwi'll' bereadilyunde 5 stood when the succeeding description" ands'claims' are readi' wi'th referenceito the; drawings; accome anyirlg antforminapart of-jthisgspecificatiom Inksaidiclrawings;

Figure 1'. isiafragmentarwview inz-front" elevav tlon': of a ,Linotypw machine equipped with; my improved? power" lift mechanism in. a; preferred: 45 embodiment thereof and withthe partszshowm innormal position;

Figure 21s a. similar view showingthe parts in the position assumedtherebv'when the assem bling; elevator is fully, lifted;,or elevated;

Eigure... 3. is. another. similar. view illus ratlngv the; position of. the. par s when the assembling;- elevator has descendedwith the rocker piatein i lly operated positionanclthe transfer lever at. the end of its forward stroke;

Figure 4= is-a firagmehtary'view in-edge elevaw tion of" the assembling: elevator, parts of! the power lift mechanism, and the transfer lever dee tache i from the-machine; c

Figure" 5 is a. View in: horizontal section takem on the'line 5--5- of. Figure 3 and showing; the.

catchpin and the lear'spring therefor; draws to. a larger scale and with Said piH:pl0jBOt&d;;f

l' i'gura S is a; fragmentary view inside; elevas tion illustrating parts of the-means. for: variably: counter -balancing theassembling: elevator. and drawn toal'arger scale;

Figure 7 is a view in horizontal section taken err-the line IL-J ofE-i gurafi Figure ikis' avi'ew in perspectiveaof sairlicounterw balancing: means.

Referring now tothe-drawings: by nmnerals; my improved power li-fitmechanism been shown thereinlfor the purposes; of illustrating a preferred practice of the invention as-;app1ied: totheusual Linotype machine of. the; class exemplified in U: S: Letters.:.Batent'-. No. 436,532 granted toLO; Mergenthaler, September: 1.6;. 18190; the machine being: shown conventionally: in; said dtawings as: sufficient; ionthe present; purposes;

Iit-thesemachineslmatrices-y mot:shown,.. arelfied' froma magazine, not;shown-,-.. under OQBLUEQL of; keyssz of the-usualkeyboard; to: drop: QHJJDj-fi; belt 3* delivers. the' m-atrices. into an assembler 4i tram; which: thessameiara fedrbY; a t r: wheel (not: shown); intozthe. assembling: ele or 5e which; the matrices-1.316 comigosedlirra 11in with. sai-a elevator aim loweredinormal po itio The: assembling elevator? 5,. afterthe; line, is composed; thereimisinaisest in amides: 6, tomes; ister the composed .linemfimatricea with; ahorli-e zontale channels 8;-i1r a tramaipart. 9 of the m chines and; position he: line: oi 1' matrices. betweena apa-hs airline en a n fing rs I10 on a. transfer. carriage lil comprisingragtransfer slide; It}.

Thetransfer carriagelt; is; reciproca d la. vertical transfer. levee l3:.cQnn6.01fied.-' to the; sli e DZl Qfisai t'carriagevlil by; a 1mm M and mounted on a; Look; l5 ofi the-:maolli'neisaidi lever hair-mgr forwards and: a:- raverse: or: re racting stroke to; reciprocate: sai h; carriage; l When haassemblins; elevator irisifully;raised,. o :;lifted to elevate; the: composed line to the channel. 8-,, it; trips. a catch not. shown-L releasing; the'tran -l fess carriage It which is, then-advanced. by; the. forward stroke of the transfer lever L3; to trans-- ferthe, comuoseah e of. matri e iiito thacastins; elevator. lb of. the. maQhine,,.after-.- w h; said carriage. l- I, is; retracted? by theretracting stroke of said lever Hit A spring lloperatessaid leverfl l3 through its forward stroke and cam means, not shown, subsequently retracts said lever [3. The assembling elevator is latched in elevated position until the transfer lever l3 executes its forward stroke and is then unlatched, by means, not shown, for descent into normal position under the influence of gravity.

The manually operative means of the machine for lifting the assembling elevator comprises a rock shaft l8 extending across the front of the keyboard or keys 2, and journaled at its ends through bearings [9 on the machine with an operating hand lever at the right hand end of said shaft depressible to rock said shaft in a.

direction to cause the assembling elevator 5 to be lifted. A crank arm 2| and link 22 at the left hand end of said shaft 18 operatively connects. said shaft to the assembling elevator 5. A coil spring 23 is connected to a crank arm 24 andto a fixed part 25 of the machine and serves the purpose of balancing the weight of the assembling elevator 5 in its lowered position and when unloaded.

My improved power lift mechanism comprises, as its basic element, a substantially semi-circular, segmental, rocker plate 26 journaled, as at 21, in a bearing 28 on the frame part 3 for vertical rocking movement from a normal position into a fully operated position in which said assembling elevator 5 is fully lifted, or elevated. The rocker plate 26 is arranged above the assembling levator 5 behind the same and in front of the transfer lever l3..

The rocker plate 26 is powered for movement from normal position by a retractile coil spring 29 which is pivoted, as at 34), at one end to the frame part 9 and similarly connected at its other end, as at 3!, to said plate 26 above the axis of said plate to rock the same in one direction from normal position into fully operated position. A suitable stop pin 32 on the frame part 9 of the machine, in the path of movement of the rocker plate 26 from normal position is arranged to engage one edge of said plate and limits movement of the same to establish the fully operated position of said plate and, hence, the fully lifted or elevated position of the assembling elevator 5.

A radial peripheral shoulder 33 on said rocker plate 26 is engaged, in the normal position of said plate by a locking dog 34 whereby said plate is releasably held cocked in normal position in opposition to the spring 29. The locking dog 34 is pivoted, as at 35, on a suitable part of the machine and tensioned by a suitably arranged coil spring 36 to hook over said shoulder 33 with a snap action to lock said plate.

Operating connections are provided between the rocker plate 26 and the assembling elevator 5 in the form of a link 31 having a lower. end pivoted, as at 38, to said elevator 5, and an arcuate concentric slot 39 in said plate having a leading end lateral notch 40, said link having an upper end lateral pin 4i slidable along said slot and into said-notch 46. A coiled spring 42 having its ends fastened to said plate 26 and link 31, as at 43, 44, normally holds the pin 4!. in the notch 40, in a manner presently clear, and over a catch lip 45 in said notch 40 so that when said plate 26 is operated from normal position, the link 31 and assembling elevator 5 will be lifted by said plate.

A knock off pin 46 on the bearing 28 is provided against which the upper end of the link 31 is swung by the rockerplate 26 as said plate nears 4 its fully operated position, whereby said pin 4! is knocked out of the notch 40 into the slot 33 for a purpose presently seen.

A key 41 at the left hand side of the keyboard, or keys, 2 is operatively connected by a rod 48 to the locking dog 34 so that, upon depression of said key, said dog 34 will be swung in opposition to the spring 36 to release the rocker plate 26 for operation by the spring 29.

Means are provided on the transfer lever l3 and the rocker plate 26 for moving said plate from fully operated position back to normal position by operation of said lever I3 during its retracting stroke. Forthis purpose, the transfer lever i3 is provided with a lateral, sliding catch pin 49 therein normally projected out of said lever by a leaf spring 50 on the lever bearing against a rear end head 5! on said pin adapted to engage said lever to establish a projected position of said pin. An arcuate, edge flange 52 on the rear face of the rocker plate 26 is provided for cooperation with the catch pin 49 and which, is interposed in the path of movement, of a front cam end 53 of said pin 49, when said lever I3. executes its forward stroke. A camming edge 54 on said flange 52 is arranged for engagement with the cam end 53 of the catch pin 49 during the forward stroke of the transfer lever I3 so that pin 49 is retracted to wipe. over and past the flange 52 as the transfer lever 13 executes its forward stroke. As the catch pin 49 wipes past the flange 52 it is projected by the leaf spring 50 so as to engage and pick up said plate 26 during the retracting stroke of the said lever, for a purpose presently seen.

The means for variably counter-balancing the assembling elevator 5 comprises the following devices. The, hand lever 20 is fast-at one end on a bushing 55 which is pivotally and slidably mounted on one end of the rock shaft 18 in one bearing IQ for vertical rocking and endwise slid-1' ing movement on said shaft. The bushing 55 has the crank arm 24 formed thereon and the bushing end of said lever 20 is provided on one side of the" lever with grooves 56 radial to the rock shaft H3. The rock shaft I8 is provided with a radial pin 51 for registration with and seating in said grooves 56, selectively, by swinging of the hand lever 20 on the rock shaft 18 and endwise sliding of the bushing 55 in a manner presently clear. An expansion coil sprin 58 on the bushing 55 is interposed between the adjacent bearing I9 and the hand lever 26 and tends to slide said bushing 55 and hand lever 26 toward said pin 51 and thereby seat the pin 51 in a selected groove 56..

Referring now to the operation of the invention, with the parts innormal position, as shown in Figure 1,. and when it is desired to lift the assembling. elevator-5, the key 4'! is depressed :to

swing the locking dog 34 into releasing position relative to the shoulder 33 and the rocker plate 26'. This frees the rocker plate 26 for operation by the spring29 from normal position into fully operated position against the stop pin 32and asv illustrated in Figures 2- and 3. During such operation of the rocker plate 26, since the-pin 4! is seated in the. notch 46, in the' normal position of said plate26, the link 31 is] lifted to lift the assembling elevator 5 to may lifted or elevated position. When the assemblingelevator 5 reaches fully lifted; .or elevatedpositiom shown in Figures} and 3, and justjbefore the rocker plate 25 engages the stop' in. 3 h l k? 32' is brought into engagement with the knock off pin 55, whereby said link S'l is swung on its pivot 38 to move the pin ll out of the notch 49 into the slot 39. At this point, the assembling elevator 5 is freed to descend to lower normal position, under the influence of gravity, when unlatched by the usual mechanism of the machine. During such descent of the assembling elevator 5, the pin til slides downwardly in the slot 39 of the rocker plate 26. The rocker plate 26, however, is held in fully operated position by the spring 29 until the transfer lever is executes its retracting stroke.

When the transfer level l3 executes its forward stroke, the catch pin so wipes past and over the 52, in the manner already described. However, when the transfer lever it executes its retracting stroke, the cam end 53 or" the catch pin is engages the rocker plate 26 above its pivotal axis and picks up the same and thereby rocks the rocker plate 23 to move the same back to normal position in which the looking dog 3 snaps over the shoulder 33 and locks said rocker plate 2% in normal cocked position for repeat operation. As the rocker plate 25 becomes locked, the catch pin to rides upwardly off the same because of the throw of said lever and plate 26, and becomes disengaged from said p During movement or the rocker plate rmal position, the pin rides in the slot 3% into a position opposite the notch 49 and the spring 62 then swings the link 3? to seat the pin it in said notch to operatively connect said plate 25 to the assembling elevator 5 for repeat operation of said plate to ll t said elevator.

Prior to power lifting of the assembling elevator 5, the hand lever 28 may be slid away from the pin 5? along the rock shaft It, in a manner which will be seen, free of said pin, and then be swung upwardly to variably stretch the spring 23 according to the weight of the assembling elevator 5 plus the weight of the line of matrices therein. Then said lever 29 may be locked to the rock shaft [8 by permiting it to slide toward the pin 5?, under the action of the spring '53, until a selected groove seats the pin 51 therein. ihus, the spring 23 may be variably stretched to variably tension the rock shaft 58 against being rocked through the medium of the crank arm 2i and link 22 during lifting of the assembling elevator 5 by the power lift mechanism, whereby the assembling elevator may be variably counterbalanced according to the weight of the same plus the weight of the matrices assembled therein.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to impart a clear understanding of my invention, without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modifications, without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what claimed as new is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a matrix assembling elevator, a key, power lift means for said elevator comprising a plate pivoted above said elevator for vertical rocking movement into and from a normal position and power operated from normal position under control of said key, spring operated means connecting said elevator to said plate in the normal position of said plate to lift said elevator by movement of said plate g e as) from normal posi ion and operative to disconnect said elevator from said plate, means operating operated means to disconnect elev t r from plate after said elevator been lifted, and power operated means en- 13 said plate to move the same into normal position said elevator is disconnected from said plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said last named means includes a pivoted lever having a member thereon wipingly engaging one edge of said plate.

3. In a machine of the cl ss described, a matrix assembling elevator, a key, a plate having a slot therein with a lateral end notch, means pivotally mounting said plate above said elevator for vertical rocking movement from and into a normal position to raise and lower said slot and notch, a member pivoted to said elevator and having a pin traversing said slot and slidable downwardly therein when said slot and notch are raised, spring means biasing said member to move said pin into said notch in the normal position of said plate for lifting by said notch to raise said member and elevator by movement of the plate from normal position, power means for moving said plate from normal position under control of said key, and means moving said pin out of said notch and into said slot when said elevator is raised to slide downwardly in said slot under the weight of said member and elevator and provide for descent of said elevator, and means to move said plate into normal position after descent of the elevator.

45. The combination of claim 3 wherein said last name-d means comprises a pivoted power operated lever having means thereon wipingly engaging one edge of the plate.

5. The combination according to claim 3 wherein said. slot is concentric to the axis of movement of said plate to provide for movement of said plate into normal position while said pin is in downwardly slid position.

6. In a machine of the class described, a matrix assembling elevator, a key, a plate having a slot therein with a lateral end notch, means pivotally mounting said plate above said elevator for vertical rocking movement from a normal position to raise said slot and notch, a member pivoted to said elevator and having a pin traversing said slot and slidable downwardly therein when said slot and notch are raised, spring means biasing said member to move said pin into said notch in the normal position of said plate for lifting by said notch to raise said member and elevator by movement of the plate from normal position, power means for moving said plate from normal position under control of said key, and means moving said pin out of said notch and into said slot when said elevator is raised to slide downwardly in said slot under the weight of said member and elevator and provide for descent of said elevator.

FREDERICK N. MCCLINTOCK, JR.

Name Date Loring Feb. 24, 1920 Number 

